Genentech to move manufacturing facility out of Vacaville
Biotechnology corporation, Genentech is planning to move its manufacturing facility out of Vacaville.
The company, regarded as the world’s first biotechnology company, has been operating a manufacturing facility at 1000 New Horizons Way since 1998.
According to the Genentech website, “the Vacaville site is one of the world’s largest biotechnology manufacturing plants for the large-scale production of pharmaceutical proteins from mammalian cells.”
There are more than 427,000 square feet of space devoted to manufacturing, maintenance, laboratories, office space and warehousing.
Genentech is an independent subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant, Roche, which says it is moving out of Solano County as part of a broader strategy to evolve its manufacturing capabilities in line with future pipeline requirements. Officials say large-scale production remains important in the delivery of Roche’s marketed medicines and will be supported out of one of their newer facilities.
“In addition, our pipeline continues to diversify across a range of modalities, from monoclonal and bispecic antibodies to cell therapies and personalized cancer vaccines,” said Roche officials in a press statement. “This requires production of increasingly individualized medicines for defined patient populations rather than large scale production of biologics.”
Genentech’s Vacaville site currently employs 800 individuals.
“The Vacaville site has a 25-year legacy of producing innovative medicines for millions of patients around the world,” said Susanne Hundsbaek-Pedersen, Global Head of Pharma Technical Operations at Roche. “We aim to find a buyer who shares our values and respects the contributions and expertise of our colleagues at the facility. At this time, there is no impact to operations, or to our employees, and we are committed to treating our colleagues in Vacaville with care and compassion throughout this process.”
The Vacaville site is one of the oldest in the Roche network, specializing in large-scale production of biologics medicines.
“The company will initiate a process of finding a suitable buyer for the site and a decision will be announced in due course,” said Roche officials.
Genentech is headquartered in South San Francisco and also has campuses in Oceanside and Hillsboro, Ore.
“We are in the early stages of this process and don’t have details to share at this time, but we felt it was important to be transparent with our employees,” Heather Gloe, Principal Manager of Corporate Communications for Genentech told The Reporter.
According to Zippia.com, Genentech’s annual revenue in 2022 was $166.9 million.
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